{"id":1967,"date":"2010-11-03T11:47:15","date_gmt":"2010-11-03T11:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihbconline.co.uk\/newsachive\/?p=1967"},"modified":"2010-11-03T11:47:15","modified_gmt":"2010-11-03T11:47:15","slug":"fury-at-browne-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=1967","title":{"rendered":"Fury at Browne report"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/strong>Only the rich will be able to afford to study architecture, Schosa Standing Conference of Heads of Schools of Architecture, warns government
\n<\/span>
\nArchitecture degrees will become the preserve of the wealthy if the government adopts the Browne review\u2019s recommendations on university finance, heads of schools have warned. The proposal to remove the cap on tuition fees would undo all the work done by institutions and the profession to increase architecture\u2019s diversity, they claim.<\/p>\n

A letter in BD, which has been signed by all 42 members of the Standing Conference of Heads of Schools of Architecture (Schosa), argues that architecture students will be among the worst hit by the plans. Former BP boss John Browne\u2019s report, published\u00a0on Tuesday, covers English universities, and was based on the expectation that next week\u2019s comprehensive spending review will cut the \u00a33.9 billion annual teaching budget for universities by up to 80%.<\/p>\n

His recommendations include letting universities charge as much as they like. Students would only start repayments once they earn \u00a321,000. Any debts remaining after 30 years would be written off \u2013 five years later than at present. Browne predicted universities would typically charge \u00a37,000 a year because of a sliding scale of government levies. But the length of architecture courses means students could graduate with debts of \u00a350,000 or more.<\/p>\n

A furious Kate Heron, head of architecture at the\u00a0University of Westminster, said: \u201cArchitecture will be particularly badly hit because students study for so long, and while we are in recession the opportunity for paid work during their studies will diminish. Architecture is a long course. By the time you qualify, you have other responsibilities \u2013 children, partner, property, pension contributions. All these things have started before you start earning a professional salary. \u00a0It\u2019s not the very poor or the very rich but the great middle class that is being attacked and that\u2019s quite startling.\u201d<\/p>\n

She warned that the implications of the Browne review would be \u201cdire\u201d and that fewer people would go into architecture. The more creative youngsters would probably choose not to go to university at all but would find a way in by the back door, she said. \u00a0But schools would do all they could to adapt, offering more flexible courses, Heron predicted.<\/p>\n

Schools in Scotland, Wales and\u00a0Northern Ireland\u00a0are also fearful of the impact of\u00a0government cuts. David McClean, head of the school of architecture at Aberdeen and another of the signatories, said the review threatened to make architectural education \u201chighly exclusive and privileged\u201d.<\/p>\n

Robert Mull, head of architecture at\u00a0London\u00a0Met, said the Browne report was \u201conly half the picture\u201d. He added: \u201cWe need to review the situation once the results of the comprehensive spending review are out next week because they are inextricably linked. And we need to fight for an understanding of the social worth of architecture to a wider community to protect its funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

He welcomed Browne\u2019s recommendation that part-time students be eligible for the same funding as full-time students, saying it would allow universities to be inventive with the courses they offer.<\/p>\n

RIBA President Ruth Reed said the Browne review would have \u201cserious consequences\u201d for the profession. \u00a0\u201cStudents stand to enter employment with an inordinate financial burden,\u201d she said. \u201cWe urge the government to consider the full impact of these recommendations.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Caine Crawford, chair of student body Archaos, welcomed the report, saying the current system was unsustainable. He said: \u201cThis change in how we are educated is a wake-up call to the RIBA and the profession. If it\u2019s going to cost more to educate architects then we need to earn more to pay it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

BD Online News: LINK<\/a>
\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Only the rich will be able to afford to study architecture, Schosa Standing Conference of Heads of Schools of Architecture, warns government Architecture degrees will become the preserve of the wealthy if the government adopts the Browne review\u2019s recommendations on … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1967"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1968,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1967\/revisions\/1968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}